Paris Match

We all recognize the iconic Parisian photo, titled "Le Baiser de l'hôtel de ville", to the left. I was checking out one of my favorite sites while cruising the blogosphere last night, and if like me you are a dedicated Francophile, then every now and again you should take a look at Paris Daily Photo. This guy Eric, who lives in Paris and calls himself a "friendly Parisian" and is a professional photographer there, puts up a new picture taken somewhere in the city every day, with commentary describing what he sees.

Of course Eric didn't take this particular picture, but in his blog yesterday he was referencing the famous French photographer who did, Robert Doisneau, who was very prominent in the '50s and '60s, and who had an exhibition that closed recently at the Paris Town Hall. What caught my eye was a link to Doisneau's oeuvre on the web that shows hundreds of his photos of Parisian life in that time period. Talk about getting lost in the 'net, you could spend hours looking at these fabulous shots of 1950s Paris and its unique inhabitants. The clothes, the expressions on the faces, the street scenes...I was on it for about 20 minutes and barely scratched the surface. This is an amazing slice of life, and if you have even a passing interest in Paris or life in the '50s, you need to see this.